Gnocchi (V)

These are extremely versatile and make a nice alternative to pasta. Most pasta sauces will be a good accompaniment to gnocchi. My particular favourites are pumpkin sauce and creamy gorgonzola.

Most recipes recommend boiling the potatoes whole, unpeeled, and removing the skins afterwards. I have tried this but honestly didn't find that it made much difference to the final result. I usually peel them before cooking and chop into manageably-sized chunks, but do whatever works for you.

Serves 2, generously, as a main course

500g floury potatoes

150g plain flour

1 egg, beaten

50g parmesan, finely grated

a little nutmeg, finely grated

Boil the potatoes until cooked through, but not collapsing - between 10-20 minutes depending on how big they are. Leave to cool a little, then mash them well. If you want a really smooth texture, you can pass them through a sieve, but this is quite time-consuming.

Mix the potato with all the other ingredients and knead lightly until the dough has just come together. You may need to add a little more flour if the dough is sticky. It does need to be well mixed, but try not to over-knead as this can make the gnocchi tough.

Flour a suitable surface, roll handfuls of the dough into long thin sausages, chop the sausages up into pieces and shape each piece roughly into a little ball. How big you want to make them is up to you; they are usually somewhere between grape-sized and walnut-sized. It is customary to use the back of a fork to make indents in one side (apparently this helps the sauce to stick to them better) but I haven't honestly found this to alter the finished product in any discernible way.

Heat a large pan of water until boiling, then drop the gnocchi into the water and fish them out with a slotted spoon when they rise to the surface - about 2-3 minutes or so. I find it easiest to drop them in one by one rather than tip them all in at once - that way just as the last one goes in, the first one is about to float to the surface.